


We Are the Mirror

by Leidolette



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: F/M, Introspection, Regret
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 06:31:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15113756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leidolette/pseuds/Leidolette
Summary: Gilbert sits there with a stinging ear, and thinks.





	We Are the Mirror

The first day that Gilbert met Anne, he also discovered something about himself he didn't like. 

Gilbert sat there on the uncomfortable school bench and waited for the day to be over. The sense memory of Anne's braid against his palm surfaced again, and he flexed his hand under his desk. 

It had never been hard for him to talk to girls. It had never been hard to talk to anyone, really. Folks responded well to him, and if an odd one didn't, what did it matter? He had plenty of friends. Well, with Anne, it mattered.

The schoolhouse had a different atmosphere now that Anne was gone. Stunned shock for a few minutes that a student would dare run out on Mr. Phillips' punishment, then slipping back into a bored silence even less interesting than before as Mr. Phillips determinedly went right back to the lesson plan. 

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. _The yank was harder than I meant it to be_ , he thought. 

(But, then, he hadn't really _meant_ to pull at all. There had been no forethought at all, just a flash of emotion and then he was reaching out -- and that was the problem.)

The slate was a shock that knocked his face to the side, but he got what he wanted. She had to pay attention to him now, and the idea filled him with genuine pleasure. 

But that pleasant feeling was mixed with a nasty sort of satisfaction. _Gotcha_ , he thought, and said, "You just did."

And even with his ear stinging it felt like a victory -- which lasted all of five seconds before Mr. Phillips' voice barked out through the classroom. Then it was like all his insides deflated as he watched Anne's face as she was summoned up and berated in front of the class. 

Gilbert immediately wanted to take the whole thing back. He tried to. But he couldn't unbreak that slate, and he couldn't stop Anne Shirley as she ran past a whole room of staring eyes and out the door.

Billy had been after her this morning. Bothering her. But Anne hadn't been half so upset this morning as she'd been this afternoon with Gilbert. Gilbert's brain tried to pull back from that thought. He wasn't like that. He didn't pester girls. But Gilbert was having a hard time reconciling that statement with the empty seat next to Diana. 

_I just wanted her attention_ , Gilbert thought. But now that felt so cheap held up against the memory of Anne's tense face.

He'd see her tomorrow, he told himself. Then he'd make it up to her, and he wouldn't let himself get carried away in the future. She was sure to be back at school by tomorrow.

The bell rang eventually, and when Gilbert walked home from school that day, there were tracks by the the muddy bank of the creek that were the deep slashes of someone running at top speed. 

The walk home didn't feel very good.


End file.
